Toronto Raptors: Whose stock is rising/falling after week three?

Norman Powell – Stock Down

Well, this one is really unfortunate.

Norman Powell wasn’t stuffing the stat sheet or looking like a world beater by any means. But he wasn’t the Norm Powell of last year.

You know? The one who just never looked comfortable on the court and constantly settled for bad shots or bone-headed turnovers. Yeah, that one.

Powell had been relatively quiet across his 11 games this season. He started in two games this season – a win in Washington and the lone defeat against Milwaukee. Powell had limited offensive impact in those games but always gets credit for his hustle on defense.

He’s been shooting relatively well from three (40-percent) on a limited sample size. In all honesty, that’s all we needed from Norm at this moment in time. The bar hasn’t been too high for him in recent times, and he’s currently sitting comfortably on it.

If he played 14 minutes each night and put on his regular defensive hard hat I would be more than happy. Add in an occasional open three and a drive to the rim and it’s a rather happy recipe.

Which is what makes this injury a lot more cumbersome to take.

Fighting through a screen to get to the ball, Powell caught up with Rudy Gobert and sent his arm in an awkward direction and quickly exited for the locker room. The Raptors bench looked concern and had every right to be, as we now know Powell will miss 4-6 weeks with a partially dislocated shoulder.

Get well soon Norm, you’ll be back in no time!